Kindling
by 125berribe
Summary: Yoshie Mitoyo was known as an idle but magnetic bright boy and winner of his year's UA Sports Festival. While working at Endeavor's agency he managed to intern in HR and did the bare minimum to appease his superiors. But in order to infiltrate the smuggling of the quirk enhancer Trigger, after exhaustively examining all hero files, Mitoyo seems to be the only one to fit the bill.


_**Chapter 1: Ignition**_

His supervisor, Irene, pulled him over before their lunch break. She led him to her office, a minimalist metallic cubicle, heels clicking ominously.

He swallowed nervously as the climate dropped ten degrees for the main workspace. Irene's quirk was a type of ice emitting power like their main boss' wife; someone had briefly mentioned the two were related distantly back when he'd first started out as an intern.

When he was seated, her polar, steely eyes met his. God, the woman was intimidating.

"Boss?" He asked slowly. What had he done? To his best knowledge, he'd been a good intern thus far. Was it the coffee machine incident? Did they do all background check on some of his best-friend, Takeshi, and his less tasteful antics back in U.A.?

"Mitoyo-san, based on your performance and other factors, we've selected you for an important cause. Based on observations of your quirk and temperament, your presence could lead to the success of the mission." Irene looked at him with an unchanging expression.

"I'm sorry?" Mitoyo clarified, nonplussed. He didn't mean any disrespect to his boss, but he wasn't following what she was telling him. He had only been an intern for a year or so and had never had any intention with finishing his pro-hero license. Generally, he only worked on writing and compiling, the head of the agency, Endeavor's press, and police releases.

"I told you. Upper management is transferring you into a full case that would suit your capabilities more than P.R. They believe that despite your inexperience, you may prove useful." She stated cooly. Irene was his division supervisor and had more than a decade of experience in her job, she was in total control of this situation, and he felt cornered.

She tilted her head, bangs falling to his ears, and steely eyes drilling into him. "You can take this as you may, but this is a promotion Mitoyo. From now on, you'll outrank me." Irene said tonelessly and gave a small smile of encouragement. To think, this was the first time he saw her smile in the near nine months he'd worked for her. Irene was quite pretty in a detached way, he thought suddenly.

Irene pulled a few loose papers from a folder and spread them on the desk. She tapped the first, which is recognized instantaneously. "This report where you connected our known data about Hero Killer Stain's affiliation with the Abekawa Tenchu Kai and his greater past and patterns was impressive and did not go unnoticed."

"You're hard-work and voluntary undercover research further, which was a very noble undertaking of yours, helped support our report on Stain. Mitoyo, this could be your chance to climb as a hero." She added.

Mitoyo bit his lip, tasting the salty blood. It was true that he had pulled some strings and made a few calls to solidify evidence, but it was quite minor. Didn't they have a better candidate for this new case, he hadn't trained or fought seriously since graduation, and it had never been his intention to become a full-fledged hero.

But he needed his job and recognized Irene was aware of this as well.

"Ok." He sighed slightly, "What's this case?" He trained his face to be as blank as possible. He'd never have imagined being transferred out of P.R., he'd always been good with bullshitting schoolwork and then reports and faking out people. Takeshi, his best friend, had still tagged him as a sycophant paper pusher, which after a moment of thought, he'd agreed with his friend's judgment.

Irene shuffled her folders around and showed him a photo of a teenage girl. The photograph was blurry around the edges, shot in little light, but the profile of the girl was clear. She was hunched slightly over a cellphone, choppy bangs partially hiding doe-like eyes scanning her peripherals. Although her posture labeled her as younger and suspicious, she was dressed in a revealing blue dress in a material that was form-fitting and glossy and was probably worth a large chunk of his salary.

"This is Kaoru Yonenaga, sister of the deceased Rojiya Yonenaga, of the Abekawa Tenchu Kai, which you are familiar with. After Hero Killer Stain killed her brother, she joined a shadowy criminal association that has extremely alarming connections such as the Villian factory, the Yakuza, and the Chinese Triads." Irene stated.

"She doesn't look the part," Mitoyo interjected softly. Indeed, the girl looked barely younger than him, and yet she was already in so deep. Her eyes still seemed so innocent, but he knew it to be a mask of sorts.

"Yes, and you are both around the same age," Irene observed before replacing the photo with another, this time a blown-up picture of the girl using some type of grotesque mutant quirk that changed her body structure into something _avian_.

"Yonenaga has a transformation quirk naturally, but she takes the American enchantment drug, Trigger, to optimize her quirk's power. She is an addict and prone to lapse in mental function."

"So she would be our metaphorical crack in the system?" He hypothesized.

Irene nodded and added, "To an extent. You would create the aforementioned crack for the most part so we can learn more about Trigger." His blood went cold. Irene's face stayed composed and unfeeling. "Do you understand your new job now?" She murmured austerely, eyes hard and frosty grey.

Mitoyo swallowed, unknowing how to answer appropriately. He wanted to reject it but if he refused he'd be fired and this would go on his record. The problem was—

"Mitoyo, I know you're smart, we've seen your scores back in school, and your ability shines through your reports. With Endeavor's direct training, you'll be honed enough to be a player. To take them down we need someone young and particularly… ruthless." Irene reached over to him.

"What about me?" He questioned, flinching from her touch, albeit realizing after how foolish it sounded, how selfish and unheroic. Irene kept her gaze even and tilted her head once more.

"You? What about trapped civilians mindlessly controlled by addiction or heroes that get hurt trying to save them from relapse without fatal injuries?" She blinked and then turned the conversation down another path. "Rest assured, if everything goes to plan, you'll be finally recognized as a pro-hero as soon as you finish the final report on Trigger." She explained dispassionately.

Irene pulled a loose bang back over her left ear. She smiled for the second time that day, but Mitoyo recognized its theatricality. He felt as if he was so small cornered by her icy presence, it was overwhelming, to say the least. Mitoyo knew he was trapped for good. He'd either die a worthless son or live to be a wealthy man. As he mulled over the information, he saw no pieces of his own, he would always be a pawn in their game.

Pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts, his supervisor organized and restacked her folders. She brushed some imaginary dust particles off her suit and stood up, and he copied her mechanically.

"It's been a pleasure to work with you for the past nine months." She lowered her eyes onto him, "I wish you the best of luck." And with that, Mitoyo took his cue to get out.

"Cheers." He retorted bitingly, always one to want the last word. Silence followed him as he shut her office door with a click.

Mitoyo bit his lip, drawing blood again. He licked it away and absentmindedly wondered if he still had that chapstick his ex had got him weeks ago. He needed it.

God, he should've never listened to Takeshi and helped him terrorize those upperclassmen back in high school. Those years must've messed with his karma, even though it had just been relatively harmless.

Walking to the lunchroom for his refrigerated snack, quinoa, and spinach salad to keep him healthy, he mulled over the upsides for him. He'd be working with Endeavor, his main boss and a hero he'd looked up to when he was a kid. He would finally make it as a pro.

If you excluded his humanity, what made Mitoyo ah…_Mitoyo_, it was a lucky break, and all good things had to be earned with a little sacrifice. Problem was, he'd liked his job, he enjoyed his life, things were on the up and up before and now everything could crumble back down like a house of cards.

* * *

When Mitoyo got home that night he unmuted calls and messages he scanned his texts before swiping them away. Yu Takeyama, an old classmate, had finally got her license and there was a celebratory party. Takeshi was begging him to come and that their friend Kaoruko Awata was there. Honestly, it would've been great to see Kaoruko since she was always busy interning in Sir. Nighteye's agency up north.

But he couldn't. Irene had given him the ultimatum, and Mitoyo now had to follow through like a nice little pawn. He sighed and sent an apology to Kaoruko and asked to catch up soon and sent a quick 'sorry, next time bro' to appease Takeshi. Then he re-muted messages and dialed for his mother.

She picked up after a second call, "Thanh-Nga Mitoyo speaking."

"Hi, Mom." He said. She cooed happily, "It's you, Yoshie! You never call your Mama anymore."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. I had a lot of work."

His mom tutted, "Work like that is too stressful Yoshie, take a break. Your Mama and Pa are in the Virgin Islands right now, I can get you a ticket if you'd like, oh—and one for that girlfriend of yours too."

"I forgot." He sighed, "I broke up with Shiina."

His mother drew her breath in sharply. "Ah, you did? But that Shiina-chan was such a kind girl."

Yoshie felt a headache coming on and frowned. "Yeah, but we didn't work. She kept being too clingy and insecure when I wanted to hang out with my friends."

"Yes, I could imagine that." His mom agreed.

"Mom?" He interrupted. She answered, "Yes, Yoshie?"

"I was promoted unexpectedly today. Tell Dad I think I might be doing some undercover work for the next few months to a year."

"Ah but that's too dangerous." She complained. "Hikaru, come over here! Tell your son he should stop working, get married, and come over to visit us more."

"Maa, maa, Thanh-Nga. Tell Yoshie he should do what he decides is best, besides marriage at his age is too young, dear." He heard his father's deep voice say, phone static fading his strong baritone.

"Your father is right, don't worry about it, do what's best for you. Will you be able to call us sometimes?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. Sorry. Anyways, I have a lot of stuff tomorrow, so I got to sleep."

"Okay, thanks for calling us! We love you, Yoshie... Hikaru, bust your ass over here and say good-bye to your son!" She called.

"...Bye son. Stay safe out there alright?" His father mumbled through the line.

Yoshie smiled slightly, "Got it, dad. Bye, mom."

He hung up contently and left his phone charging by the nightstand and ate some food, hearty lentil soup, and an arugula salad, before getting ready to sleep. The next day was a mystery, but it was bound to be miserable, a good-nights sleep would be his only friend.

* * *

Yoshie stood before his Boss, Endeavor, the following morning. The hero had a towering figure, and burning eyes drilled holes into his head. He looked dismissive.

"My staff tells me you are inexperienced in the field but did perform well in the Sports Festivals and Provisionals. Tell me, Yoshie Mitoyo, why did you choose to be a hero?"

Direct questions like that were hard to answer genuinely for him. He didn't meet the hero's eyes. "Control, sir." He answered, semi-honestly. "I went to UA to learn how to regulate my quirk but also… growing up, I always looked to those who defended the people and the law. I'm going to be a hero that doesn't fall to the corruption within the Hero Association."

The Flame Hero nodded contemplatively. With all the dirty laundry the Stain incident uncovered, the boy's goal was honorable, if misguided. "Very well. I will test you to diagnose your ability."

"Right now, sir?"

Endeavor grunted, "Yes. Attack me."

A test was not unexpected, but regardless, he was overwhelmed. Shrugging off his hoodie, he stood before Endeavor.

Yoshie felt his surroundings, there- he felt the harsh static on his tongue and throughout the air. He felt the lines underneath the ground supplying energy for the street lamps and… he felt the heartbeats.

The pro-hero's heart was a steady ba-dump ba-dum. Yoshie closed his eyes to focus on feeling the man's rhythm and the pulsing magnetic waves around him. It was a method he used to drown the background into less distracting white-noise.

He uncurled a finger and discharged a burst of crackling electricity at the man. It was fast, but the pro-hero dodged just in time to meet another fusillade of blasts. Although the asphalt of the street absorbed some of the shock of the attack, one blow was nearly fatal to the heart.

While Endeavor quickly dispelled the shocks one by one, Yoshie leaped up into the air. Using the metal soles of his boots as a magnet, he levitated and shot through the air. He focused on controlling the speed, not to fast or his body spin out control and break. It needed to be fast enough to outpace the pro-heroes flames when he brought them into play.

There. Endeavor looked at Yoshie curiously while he leaps over his head, before twisting quickly and shooting a spider web sphere of electricity caging the pro-hero. Purposefully, Yoshie left a gap near the side, just high enough that his Boss would have to get some air to make it through.

If the man left the safety of the insulating asphalt, he would be his. However, in that snap second, Endeavor engulfed the air with fire and electricity trapping him collapsed out of his control into magma. In that instant, everything got so hot, and the cold static that grounded Yoshie started to burn.

With a last bout of concentration, Yoshie spread his arms to direct the charge his magnetic field, supercharging it to shield against Endeavour's flames. The pro-hero's propagations flickered and decreased upon meeting the field, which made him let out a small grin.

There was no doubt in his mind that Endeavour was letting have these small victories, but there was the truth, that their quirks were unsuited to fight against each other. Electricity and fire were both strong and weak to each other in different ways, it would be difficult to close the gap between them and get in a hit.

The only trick he had left was waiting for Endeavour to get into the air. If the man left the ground, Yoshie could control his every move. If only he could manage that.

He hit the sky in one jump, using magnetic fields to propel him forward. Hopefully, he could taunt the hero by circling him until he left the asphalts.

However, as he was flying, suddenly, out of nowhere, hot flames licked in an inferno in every direction. He flinched as his hands blistered and became raw. _Never take your eye off the opponent. _He flicked his head back rapidly and saw Endeavor watching him cooly.

"That's enough, you're acceptable. The debrief is at one o'clock." rumbled the Flame Hero. He waved the flames away and strode composedly out of the training arena.

Yoshie stood there, panting, while watching the man disappear into the hero agency building. For once, he was at a loss for words.

_Damn_, Boss was strong. He has been expecting nothing less, but still, his own performance highlighted that he'd been slacking off these past months. He felt much more winded then he been at Provisionals.

* * *

"Again!" Endeavor drilled.

Yoshie felt his hands go numb with the pressure, blue sparks running through the dummy he was levitating. He slammed it into the ground with a force that sent tremors through the ground and webs of electricity rippled out from the collision.

He could taste the salt on his tongue, the static and his own blood in the air. His hair felt fried from the electricity buzzing through it.

Quickly he ran through the maze, disabling dummies as he passed them. Nothing fatal, just quick incapacitations of the knees, arms, shoulders, things that wouldn't break the person, then he mock knocked them out with a jab to the head.

He didn't make the same mistake of running through the second path again and headed for the exit for the twentieth time. Huge boulders blocked the path, and Yoshie wasn't allowed to fly over them.

He planted his feet firm on the ground and then heaved his arms upwards. Slowly, the first rock levitated foot by foot off the floor. It was too slow, he bit his lip in concentration. One by one, each boulder lifted off the ground at a worm's pace. Yoshie was sweating hard to maintain the balance of the pressing weight.

There. They all at around three feet above the ground so he quickly army crawled underneath them. One piece was too close and cut his back but he pushed forward. When he was out he burst into a sprint back to Endeavor.

As Yoshie attempted to regain his breath, the man checked the stop-watch.

For the first time since he started training Yoshie, he didn't frown. "Forty seconds, you've improved; the first time you ran the maze, it took over a minute and a half."

Yoshie grinned. Finally, he had made it. Having Endeavor drill him around the clock had improved his endurance and control over his quirk in leaps and bounds. It felt incredible.

After the training, Yoshie left the training ground owned by Endeavor Agency to the gym lockers. He wiped away the sweat from his forehead. He couldn't remember a time he'd worked that hard, he'd always been the top of the class, physically, back in U.A.. In the past, his strength had stayed static due to his reliance on his strong quirk, but now he actually training to improve. It felt refreshing for a change.

He rushed to the shower and relished the cold water on his back. His body was so sore, but the chilling effect of the water helped so much.

After two minutes he quickly dried off and hopped into a clean semi-formal suit, something cheap he'd found in the shopping district.

Then Yoshie walked to the elevators which brought him to the third floor where the executives, like his old supervisor Irene, met typically. It was a large conference room and lined with cushion sound absorbing walls.

Sometimes Endeavor himself sat in on these briefings, but today, only Dobashi, the case agent, sat before him.

"You finished Endeavor's training today?" Dobashi mused, stroking his greasy patch of hair that could be loosely considered a bread. The man was slimy looking and an ex-yakuza according to office-rumor but he was smart and kind. Supposedly Dobashi had left his gang to take be a good parent, Yoshie could believe that. Despite the man's appearance, he had been a good manager the past weeks they were preparing for Yoshie to intercept Kaoru Yonenaga and the organization, Kuroyuri, attached to smuggling Trigger.

Kuroyuri was a large yakuza affiliated group that was involved in drugs and sex smuggling. According to informats, getting close to the girl, Kaoru Yonenaga, was the key into integrating into the top level of the Kuroyuri. When her brother died and his gang's support gone because of Hero Killer Stain's lethal judgement, Kaoru was burning money and was out of control.

Dobashi had set him up with an acquaintance, Abe, a successful scammer. For the last few weeks, they'd been solidifying an identity, a presence of Yoshie the con-man. He was naturally a decent actor, and Endeavor's training had supplemented his original skills, the only thing left was to separate himself from the image of the young kid in U.A.'s Sport Festival. When he participated he'd scored third along all his old classmates which gave him decent media coverage in that blip of time.

They'd rectified that immediately. When Abe had seen him, he'd took him he had 'blonde pussy' hair and that no one would take him seriously. They'd dyed his light hair dark brown and buzzed it. He now had short hair on the top and a cropped undercut. He thought he looked a lot more angular now, like a delinquent.

"_So. What you gotta do is sell the sophisticated salesman. You look a little girly but you're a seriously crazy dude. If you weren't a hero Mitoyo, I'd hire you, no lie." Abe had assured him. _

Yoshie rested chin on his hands. "So I'm doing this tonight? He asked Dobashi rhetorically.

"Yes. Make sure to run over everyone's names this evening. You're going to intercept Yonenaga tonight at Infinity." The man recited the rundown. "How are you feeling?" He asked, smiling gently.

He was nervous to impress Endeavor, to complete the mission, and anxious to come back to his parents. More than anything, he wanted to prove to himself he had control over himself. "Fine. I'm ready." He lied.

Yoshie took a deep breath in.

* * *

Hours later, he exhaled deeply.

Brown eyes opened, sparing a glance at his reflection in the car window. His hair was gelled back and he was wearing a suit Abe, his conman mentor, had acquired for him, with tax dollars, of course, as if the heroes weren't rich enough, they needed public funds too.

"It'll be thirty bucks sir." The driver interrupted his thoughts. He blinked, "Here." He handed the amount to the man.

It was already night and he breathed in one more time to dispel then tension in his shoulders that he always got with stress. Above his head was the neon blue sign _Infinity_ of the downtown club.

He'd been once when he'd just gotten out of UA with Takashi and some other friends. They'd been young and pretty suspicious with hoodies and sweats, their old pictures always reminded him of delinquent posers. That was an interesting part of this mission, he'd been to a few areas around, but he dressed so differently that no one would recognize him. For one his dyed brown hair instead of his blond made him look older and without his crowd, he didn't look like he was in a gang.

He flitted through the crowd and in less then a few minutes was smiling at the bouncer, flashing an ID, fake as it may have been. _Haruo Matsumoto_, a reformed rich douchebag, formerly known as yours truly.

Yoshie grabbed a drink and dunked it back quickly. He could hold his liquor well but needed a little inspiration for the night ahead.

After a few minutes he was dancing with a bright eyed blonde, who'd been shy at first when her friends had pressed her to dance but now was letting loose. He smiled and bought her a fruity drink _strawberry daiquiri _she'd asked for.

Even as he handed her the fruity thing, and she flirted with him. Although he thought she was honestly gorgeous in a natural way, he kept his mind clear. The blonde wasn't his target, it was Kaoru Yonenaga.

Throughout the evening he kept his eyes looking for Yonenaga and her wide eyes and youthful face.

"Haruo, why do you have your eyes on the dance floor? Our drinks just came again." His blonde companion complained light-heartedly, cheeks flushed. The girl smelled of her Strawberry Daiquiris and now the smell had invaded his senses. He brushed a strand of hair lingering on her face away gently. "Sorry Yuuna."

"If you really wanted to keep dancing you should've just told me." She pouted. Suddenly the energy was back in her and she pulled him back to the dance floor, drinks forgotten.

The two moved to the edge of the pack of bodies and moved to the pulsing beat. The blondes hair was messed up, fanned out of her old ponytail, curls spilling everywhere. She pulled him in a kiss. But in the seconds their lips mets his senses were on high alert.

In the corner of his vision a tall lady with those innocent eyes he'd first seen from Irene's documents. Kaoru Yonenaga, his mind quickly supplied.

"I think my friend is trying to call me. Lemme message him back. I'll grab you another drink." He said over the music. She frowned and asked him to come back quickly before finding another dance partner.

Quickly he walked near the exit and pretended to use his burner phone for a moment before sliding back to the bar next to the target and sighed in mock exasperation.

"Another vodka strawberry daiquiri?" The barman asked.

Yoshie frowned, "No, just tequila for me."

He turned to the girl sitting two seats away. "Hey. Your cup is looking pretty empty over there. You wanna another drink? It's on me." He sent Yonenaga a sugary smile, Yuuna, the blonde, forgotten.

The girl's head popped up, and brightened after giving him a brief glance-over. "Yeah, thanks." She said, body language loosening.

He waved the barman over and turned his gaze back on Yonenaga. "Another mojito on the rocks, please." She asked.

"So what's your name?" He coaxed.

She gazed at him with desire, "Kaoru. What's yours?"

"Hatsuo." Yoshie provided. "Why don't you sit over here?" He gestured to the seat next to him.

Once Yonenaga moved closer he asked, "Why are you all alone on a night like this?" To that, the girl flinched slightly and he mentally told himself to be less assertive. "Oh just a bad day at work. I wanted a drink to relax after that _nightmare_." She explained.

He laughed in understanding, "Yeah tell me about it. I don't know about you, but my boss is always on my case." He complained lightly.

Kaoru, the target, seemed relaxed, and smiled softly at him, a contrast to the paranoid girl in his supervisor's photos. "Yeah. I hate my boss too." She said, leaning towards him, tentatively resting a hand on forearm. He forced himself to smile back, eyes soft and in-genuine.

And like that, Kaoru had been caught in his trap like a fly to a spider's web. Eventually, he'd worm his way into her life and become her friend, lover, her everything. It wouldn't be hard for him really, she had an interesting life story and was attractive.

Absently while warming up to the girl, he wondered if in another life, they could've been real friends. It was really too bad for her that Yoshie wanted this job. After a few years of wandering aimlessly, he would become a hero, and he always got what he wanted.

All of his bosses like Endeavor, Irene, Dobashi had always gotten the guileless and unremarkable little bee he'd presented himself as. They'd never know what they got themselves into, after all, he was only an inexperienced U.A. graduate, cannon fodder. For them, it would be unexpected though a pleasant surprise if he succeeded.

Although he had limited information about the case, he could assume he was only a small factor in their plans.

However, in the end, Endeavor and the Heroes would get more than what they wanted and... Kaoru Yonenaga and all her colleagues wouldn't be a match for him. Yoshie Mitoyo had never lost in this game called life, and he would bet everything that he never would.

* * *

**Authors Notes: **Would love a review/feedback since I'm a new writer and trying to improve :)

Anyways, let the sting begin!

Yoshie has a quirk called Electric Force (Electromagnetic-Telekinesis). The quirk may seem a bit strong but there are significant drawbacks. Since quirks seem to have a genetic connection, he is in fact related to a certain UA student, Denki Kaminari, his 2nd cousin on his dad's side. I may explore his backstory a bit more next chapter :0

Also, there were a few names of past classmates thrown around. Takeshi, Yoshie's best friend, is an oc and the older brother of a certain cocky and 'hateable' student, Yu Takeyama one day will be known as Mt. Lady, and Kaoruko Awata is Bubble Girl!

Another thing is, this is set about one/two years **before** Midoriya starts becoming a hero and joins U.A.


End file.
